A Winter Story
by KuroCake
Summary: I was lucky when I met you. I was luckier when I had you." Two-part fiction. ItaSaku/SasuSaku.


**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto

This is an AU fic, some characters are OOC. Please bare with me, for the sake of the fiction. My grammar is not that good because I'm having problems with my health. But I was inspired making this fiction so I typed it in for one day without rereading the whole thing before I lose interest on a making a fic again.

To Miss Empress.

A two part fiction.

* * *

**I.**

_Puff_.

_Puff_.

"How am I supposed to memorize all these long formulas!?"

_Puff_.

_Puff_.

It was in the middle month of winter when she decided to come out of their house. She was lying dead above the snowy fields near their home. Ever since winter came, she was lacking out of time to study for her finals. Her school always ends during the winter, when they come back it's spring. She sighs, opened her eyes and saw droplets of snow coming down from the sky. Her spines gave goose bumps as a piece dropped in her nose. But she didn't mind less since she loved the snow.

She closes her eyes once more.

_I believed that life was so hard, I don't deserve to live._

Breathing.

Relaxing.

Sleeping.

A voice.

"Onna, are you alive?"

No response.

"Oi, onna."

Silence.

A soft sigh.

Another human form lies dead on the snowy ground. It was a really cold afternoon but he really didn't mind. He closes his eyes as droplets of snow pressed in his face. A small smile crept in his face. His mouth opened once again, "Don't you love it when the snow drops in your face? It's like someone touches, unconsciously. So cold, yet sweet."

_Luckily the snows from the sky tells me that I shouldn't give up._

"Hai," she speaks. "They fall down from the sky, not afraid of touching the ground. Not afraid of melting, knowing it's the last stand of their life."

He chuckles and turns slightly, "So you are alive."

"You thought I was dead!" She almost shrieked but remained calm.

"You were lying on a cold ground, unawake and not breathing. I thought you were going to die or something." He closes his eyes. "I was thinking to leave you here or people who witnesses may conclude that I killed a young girl on a snowy afternoon."

It was her turn to chuckle. "You were thinking of doing that to me?"

"I never said I would, but people might conclude."

_Life is full of sarcasm, either you're against it or you act by it._

"I get it." A heavy sigh was heard. "I am better off dead anyway. When I don't get to pass my exams this month, I am dead. Too dead that nobody might even recognize me. You know what I mean? My parents are forcing me to study in that prestigious school, Konoha High. If I don't get to study there, I might not have a future."

Her companion opens his eyes, looks at her pale pink hair and spoke. "Such an innocent statement for a mere stranger. Either way, Konoha High is a piece of cake."

Eyes widening, she met his ebony eyes and glared. "Well sorry for being friendly." She stuck her tongue out like a kid. "A piece of cake? How could you say that so bluntly. Kids today are dying to be there, hoping for a bright future."

"Been there." He rolls his eyes.

"Ah, so you're a pedophile who loves talking to a dead girl's body on a snowy afternoon who graduated in Konoha High?"

He shot her a piercing glance. "No and yes. I'm never a pedophile, and I just graduated last year. Funny how a little girl like you can say that I'm a pedophile so bluntly. Kids today are dying for a false statement, hoping they have never said that."

"Prove it."

_But I dare to be different, I fight for my rights and I believe in second chances._

A questioning look.

"Prove that you're not a pedophile."

He rolls his eyes. "I'm 18."

"I'm 15."

"I never asked." He laughs gently.

She rolls her eyes and turned the other way.

"It's getting late," She hears him saying.

Watching him standing up and removing the snow in his clothes, she sat up as well ready to move her feet. Her mouth opens, "Sakura."

He smirks. "Itachi."

**II**.

As the sun's rays caught her eyes, she stirs up and faced the other side of the bed. Haruno Sakura was definitely not a morning person. It was past 9 but she wasn't getting up when she should be cleaning the house as her mother told her the night before. Her eyes were so wary but the sun was too bright for her to handle.

She sat up.

_Each day it's always the same._

"Damn this uncurtained house." She muttered under her breath as she ran to the bathroom to get a cold shower. While she sang disturbing hymns inside the shower stall, her mother was already shooting it's motor mouth calling Sakura for a million times. Maybe Sakura's disturbing songs were needed after all.

Or maybe not that long..

"HARUNO SAKURA JUST WHY IS THE KITCHEN STILL MESSY. LOOK AT THESE PILE OF UNWASHED DISHES OH GOD IT SMELLS LIKE HELL UGH THE SCENT OF ROTTING FLESH KAMI-SAMA!!"

'_That was why I didn't want to wake up this early for a cleaning, damn it._' She tiptoed her way out of the house while her mother shouted at the house. "Freedom!"

Few minutes later..

"Oh man, her voice is still booming up to her. Might she have PMS or something, but whatever." Sakura danced all the way far from their area. Singing gracefully as she spins rapidly without focusing on the road, she bumps in a-

**DADUM!!**

Mail box.

Few minutes after_.._

'_I want chicken, I want liver meow mix meow mix please deliver.'_

MEOW.  
MEOW.  
MEOW.

MEOW.

"Oh God!" Sakura shouted suddenly sitting up. Cats were definitely not Sakura's friend, although she's a feline herself. The person beside her raised a brow and looked at her for a moment, then continued from his reading.

"Oi, are you having a lala land dream now?" A voice appeared behind her. She turned her head to see a man with long dark hair, a face that had two scars near his eyes.

Sakura blinks her eyes in confusion, "Haven't I.. seen you before?"

"I think not." He spoke, eyes not looking up to Sakura. "But a certain pink haired girl reminds me of the undead."

_Then suddenly someone comes in your life._

She grins. "So it is you, Hitachin."

"It's Itachi you fool."

"I like it Hitachin, thank you."

Itachi rolls his eyes. "Whatever onna."

Sakura shot him a confused look. "Wai, yesterday you were so nice to me, today you're like a whole new PMS tampon that couldn't stick in a-"

"Stop." He finally breathed out. "You're beginning to annoy me."

She was startled but noticed the book Itachi was reading. "HEY! Isn't that a mathematics book?"

Itachi sighed. "Didn't you see the cover, or are you just pretending to be blind?"

_You judge them, and that's how you look up to them for the rest of your life._

"That was mean," Sakura pouts. She stands up and walked closer to Itachi's bench seat. Sakura begins to notice that they were in the bench that was really far from their home. Soon she starts to realize also that Itachi had carried her all the way until they were here because she could tell, it was really far from what she remembered as she lost consciousness, at the mailbox.

"Why are you reading a high school mathematics book? That also happened to be our academy text book." She peeked in at the book.

"I'm checking my foolish brother's answer sheet. Since it's also their finals, I am tutoring him for the sake of attending to Konoha High. Father told me to tutor him, not like I wanted to but I had no choice. He was also begging me to teach him how to memorize these long formulas. I'm glad he was able to use the short method I derived for him."

Sakura was stunned. She suddenly thought of Itachi being so nice and sweet, and all this time she thought he was a pedophile. "What a sweet brother! Your little brother is so lucky to have such a smart and wise bastard to help him with his exams while I, the homeless girl, is in need for a tutor without any pay. We're poor you know?"

Now it was Itachi's turn to blink. He stares at Sakura batting her eyelashes, getting closer. "-a tutor without any payment.. Poor homeless girl.. Parents leaving their poor helpless girl study all alone needing a little explanation to some hard, puzzling questions-"

"I get your point," Itachi laughed. "So stop doing those puppy eyes, get in here and tell me what's your problem."

Sakura jumped in no time. "Yatta!! Arigato, Hitachin-sama!"

_But hey, not all people are the same, right?_

When Itachi agreed to help Sakura out, he either didn't want to believe that he accepted the fact that he might be stupid, or was he being so nice lately. They agreed to meet at the same bench daily at 10am in the morning. Now Sakura has the reason to wake up early, because usually she's still in the bed at 11 o'clock in the morning. But now that Itachi is helping her out, she wakes up at 6'o clock, takes a bath, cleans the house(so she doesn't get grounded) and off she goes.

Day by day they grew closer, there were instances that Sakura would fall asleep during Itachi's lecture and he would just let her be, places her head in his lap, gets drooled and he slaps her head to wake her up. It was no ordinary routine, by the time afternoon came, they hanged out at parks, hills and mountains. Of course, under the sky where the snow touches their bodies, celebrating the minutes of their togetherness.

So far, Haruno Sakura's standing: 78/100

"Hey! That's not so bad, is it?" Sakura pouts.

_You get to know them and sometimes, you might look upon them._

Itachi pretends not to hear anything which pissed her off. Sakura glomped him from behind, he hugs her and they rolled for what it seemed like long years. And they laughed, smiles at each other and hugs again.

"Sakura."

The pink haired girl muttered his name while she was still burying herself at Itachi's shirt. He puts out something from his pocket that made Sakura blush frantically and tried to grab it. Apparently, he was too tall for her.

"How did you get the picture!" Sakura pouted but Itachi touched her lips quickly.

He stared at the picture for a long time then finally grins, Sakura tried to reach it again but she failed. "I'm going to show this to my family. They've been asking questions about you recently, my brother wanted to see how you look like too."

By this time, Sakura was tomato red that she couldn't face Itachi anymore. But Itachi being so sweet held her close. It was a cold afternoon up in the mountain, but Sakura was feeling the opposite. "I'm going to introduce you as my special girl."

Silence.

Sakura's feet jerked and looked up at him. "What do you mean, Hitachin?" There was no response, but after a few seconds he shot her a million-dollar smile that she was dying to see. She could feel her heart racing.

'_Now's the chance to tell him how I feel.'._

"Itachi, I love you."

He looks down to her and kisses her forehead. "I love you too, Sakura."

Silence followed again.

How she have waited for this moment to come. Now that she had finally confessed, she felt better. Even though she is expecting for an opposite- wait. What did he just say?

"Ita.. Itachi-san?" Her eyes widening, making him repeat what he just said.

"Sakura. Haruno Sakura, I love you." Itachi smiled once more.

_Happiness is really something._

Tears started to form in her eyes. She didn't believe that he had just said that. Itachi, the bastard the she used to call as a pedophile. Itachi, the person who assumed that she was dead on the cold ground yet told her how lovely snow is. Itachi, the sweet brother that she was dying to go out with. In her mind, it was Itachi. Today was too good to be real.

"Itachi!" Sakura hugged him tightly that he couldn't breathe but he couldn't care less.

Itachi scooped up the tears coming out from her eyes, one by one. He smiles at the girl right in front of him, crying like a child. "Why are you crying?"

She tried to answer when she was still sobbing. "I'm just.. hn.. so happy. Hn.. You bastard! Thanks a lot for making me cry. Hn.. You're so mean. Hn.."

"Shh," They were hugging each other non-stop. It was beginning to get dark, Itachi stood up and helped Sakura up who was trying to calm herself.

Itachi held her hands as they walked side by side, leaving the mountain where they exchanged their love. "Hey."

"Yeah? Hn.."

"Tomorrow's the day-"

"I'll do my best, for you Itachi-san."

_You won't even know you ever had that damn problem._

She was really happy that she had met such a really nice guy like him. Itachi nods and continues from what he was saying. "If you pass the exam, I'll bring you lots of flowers. I'll also buy the teddy bear that you really love at the toy store."

Sakura's eyes glimmered like a little kid. "Itachi-san! I will do my best, for you and for my bright future! I promise you that I will attend to Konoha High!'

"Such a high spirit, Sakura-chan." Itachi pats her head. "Just meet me outside Konoha High when the results come up, okay?"

She nods her head. "Hai!"

**III**.

Exam week finally came, Sakura was having such a hard time in her History exam. Although mathematics ticked her off, she never forgot the formulas that Itachi has taught her. She even thought that math could be her favorite subject.

_For Itachi-san, I will definitely pass this hell exam._

After the exams..

"Waiii Itachi-san, we should have studied about science and history too." Itachi looks at her. "But your math lectures really helped me a lot! You know the Pythagorean Theorem? It was all there! They had 5 questions about it and I am so sure that I answered them correctly!"

"I'm glad was able to help Sakura-chan."

They walked side by side until they reached the bench. Itachi offered the seat first. _Such a gentleman_, Sakura smiled and sat. All the time they were talking about how hard the exam was, Itachi also told her some of his high school memories. The terror teachers, the festivals, ah it brings so much memories.

As soon as Sakura heard Itachi's story about students who fails a mark will have to repeat a year, she jolted up and wailed her hands. "ITACHI-SAN! Are you for real? For one failed mark and they let the students repeat a year. That is so mean!"

"That's life Sakura-chan." He chuckled politely but Sakura sighed in disbelief. "Like now, you have to wait for another week for the results to come up right? That's when you'll receive your price."

"I know," She sighed again. "This long wait is torturing me. Besides, I'm excited for my goodies!! Yatta!" Sakura jumped at Itachi, their eyes meeting. Itachi couldn't handle it no more, he hugged her for the longest time and pecked her lips. Eyes widening, Sakura kissed back. But not after a long moment, they stopped to catch their breaths.

"Itachi-san, I'm so excited!" She giggled.

"Of course you are." He rests his head on Sakura's shoulder. "Sakura."

"Hm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Itachi-san."

**IV**.

_The day finally came when the results are up, finally._

"Excuse me! Make way, make way."

For the first time at her school life in Hidden Leaf Academy, Sakura had never seen the front of the library so full of people. But no matter how many people was through her way, she pushed all her way to see the results posted on the bulletin board to see if she had passed Konoha High's entrance exams.

089- Tenten

090- Nara Shikamaru

091- Aburame Shino

092- Uchiha Sasuke

093- Haruno Sakura

And there she saw her student number, blazing up under Konoha High's passing students. She jumped so high that she never realized she was already hitting someone. He complained but Sakura smiled at him tenderly. She noticed his student number, 092.

"Hey, congratulations!" She shouted in his face and danced away out of the crowd leaving the guy puzzled.

_I was so excited that you'd wait outside our school, embracing me._

He looked up at the passing Konoha High's students and stared at the name so hard that he didn't notice someone asking him what student number is he.

_**Haruno Sakura.**_

_But when I waited outside.._

It has been 4 hours since Sakura stood up outside Konoha High, waiting. Her classmates had already gone home 3 hours ago. They even offered her to join them at a nearby karaoke to celebrate their victory but she kindly refused. The sun was already setting but she waited patiently that she even sat down on the dirty cold ground to wait.

After two more hours, she went home.

_You never came._

* * *

**tbc.**


End file.
